Chapter 6

Forcing his cat body to stand there for a moment, to make sure all the others had changed, he took time to memorize scents. He went around the van toward the women standing there. Nichelle came out from behind one of the bigger trees, stuffing clothes into her backpack. Zipping it she put it on her back and then paused and smiled at him.

“You’re pretty.” She said with a grin.

Blair snuffed, trying to show his dislike of being called that. Pretty—why did women say that about his cat? He was one of the largest males in his clan in cat form. How did that even come close to pretty?

He chuffed at her again, and she smirked.

“Daisie…”

Daisie didn’t care that he was a large animal. She came right up to him and looked into his eyes. “It is you.” She said, then smiled. Leaning forward, she rested her forehead on his for a second. “You’re Kobie’s opposite.” She grinned at him again and then took her mothers, hand and walked away.

Blair had no idea what that could mean. While she’d been all up in his face, two other cats had come around the tree. It took no guessing to figure out the dark orange female was Mika. It matched her hair perfectly. The other one was darker, almost brown in areas that had to be Franki. Blair assessed how she was walking. No limp. The shift had solved that gash problem on her arm.

When the last cat came out from behind the trees, Blair had to work hard to not gape at her. Did cats even do that? He had no idea. Where Blair was mostly white with black stripes, Kobie was black as night with white striping. He glanced at Daisie, who nodded at him and smiled. The child was right; they were exactly the opposite coloring. She was long for a female, but then she was pretty tall in human form as well.

Kobie looked at the two female cats and chuffed twice then looked in the direction they were going. Both turned and bound into the trees. That made it easier for Blair, he had been trying to figure out if he should scout or hang back with the others.

Kobie walked over with the serene grace of a cat and paused a few feet from him. She was giving him the same appraisal he’d given her. With a whisper-quiet yowl, she took off to his left to check that area.

Blair has to override his cat, who wanted to follow the intriguing black tiger she-cat and romp around in the forest with her. He watched the others move. That’s what he didn’t need, his cat interested in Kobie’s.

It impressed him how he couldn’t hear any of the girls walking. They had been trained well. He lifted his head and scented the air, checking for anything that was wrong.

He started following the others, keeping his ears tuned in to the surrounding sounds. Sure, Kobie was an interesting woman, was unlike any he’d met before, but a female was off the list of things he needed to be thinking about right now. He stopped and checked the air around them again. Then he just stood there when he realized he hadn’t been mooning over Kelsey in hours. Chuffing quietly, he started walking again, been a little busy to stop and mope, idiot. Mika came bounding back from the left and he realized she’d gone in a full circle. She followed alongside him. Giving her a quick look, he moved faster. He needed to see for himself what was up ahead, no more surprises, this day had had enough of those.

He wasn’t sure how much time had gone by. When they came to a creek, he stopped to get a drink. The women on two legs opened packs and offered drinks and a snack to the others. Nichelle followed Kobie over to a darkened area. A few moments later she came back out. Blair checked all around them and then turned to see Kobie, in jeans and a t-shirt. His t-shirt. She took the bar and water Torrey held out. Then went over and got the map and compass from Cortney and sat down on the rock near him. “I’ll check how we’re doing.”

Daisie came over to him and held up his phone. “No messages or calls.” She informed him.

He had enough time to see how long they’d been walking before she stuffed it back into her pack and went back over to her mother.

“We’re still on track.” Kobie said and took a bite, “still a way to go yet.” She looked over at him. “Think they’ll message us? The clan we are meeting.”

Blair trusted she could read a map. He chuffed softly at her. That was the plan and reason he’d messaged Devin the location of the van, so he knew when they left.

Kobie looked around them. “I don’t know, Blair, my gut says something is off.” She stood up and motioned to Franki to go look around. The she-cat bound away from the creek.

Blair didn’t want to admit it, but even in cat form, he was antsy. Getting up, he went over and nudged her leg with his head, then looked in the direction they’d come.

“You going to double-check we’re not being followed?” She nodded. “I’ll keep us moving in the right direction. Be safe.”

That she understood him made this simpler. Blair inhaled deeply, then regretted it. Shit, she smelled appealing to his cat, even in human form. Fuck. No time for that, he thought quickly and then took off to backtrack where they’d been.

The next quick break they took was because they stood in front of a ravine. Blair went over to the edge and looked down at it. The girls wouldn’t be able to make it down. He looked over to the other side. He doubted even in cat form he could make it up the other side. Kobie came over beside him and looked. He turned to see Cortney was coming over carrying the map.

She pointed to her right, “we’re going to have to go up and circle back,” she pointed to where it looked like the ravine leveled out again, “then get back on course.” She glanced over at her daughter. “That climb will slow Daisie down.”

Blair chuffed at her twice, then ran over to the trees.

Coming out with his jeans on, he went over to Torrey, who was holding out a drink and a few bars for him. “Stop and refuel, ladies.” He said quietly. Dropping his pack on the ground, he sat down. Taking a bite of the bar, he looked at the hill they’d have to go up. “Can I see the map, please?” He waited until Cortney brought it over.

“I’ve been watching, there’s no other way around it.”

He nodded, “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.” He motioned around them, “but in a car on the road, we’d already be found.”

She nodded and then motioned for Daisie to come over.

Daisie did, holding out his phone as she did. “Thanks, honey.” He smiled at her.

Kobie came over as she zipped up her jeans and sat down. “How are we doing for time?” She looked up at the sky, assessing the time of day for herself.

He finished chewing the chalky bite before glancing at his phone. “All things considered, not bad.” It had taken them over two hours to get this far. The terrain had been a lot rougher than he’d expected. He looked at his phone again. There was a signal. “We should have heard from someone by now.”

Franki came out and stumbled a few steps.

Blair watched her for a moment. “Get some of the jerkies into you, Franki. If you’re not steady, you’ll have to stay on two legs for a bit.”

She nodded and took the food Torrey offered.

“I can change if Franki’s unable.” Torrey offered.

Blair looked over to Franki, “let me see if I can reach someone. No sense in all of us exhausting ourselves if no one is there to meet us.” He met Kobie’s look before he opened the screen and typed out a message to Devin. Rough trek through this bush. Going to be another few hours, at least. He hit send and then took another bite. He hated protein bars, but he wasn’t sure how the women would react if he booked it through the bush looking for a rabbit to eat.

Torrey offered him some jerky as if she had read his mind. “My mate hated those bars too.” She mumbled, then walked away.

His phone vibrated in his hand. He lifted it and read the message from the prince.

Abort! We can’t reach them. Last communication said choppers were circling their area.

He read it again. “Fuck.” He said under his breath. New plan? He hit send a little harder than necessary, but it was that or toss the phone down into the ravine.

“What is it?” Kobie leaned closer and spoke in a hushed tone.

Blair turned the phone and let her read it.

Her face blanched, and then she looked up in the air. Standing up, she motioned to the bush. “Everyone, move back into the cover of the trees.”

Everyone listened without hesitation. Blair stood up and grabbed his pack. He watched the signal bar on his phone as he went, making sure he didn’t lose it. He stepped back into the shelter of the trees and avoided looking anywhere but at his phone. He didn’t need to see the anxious and worried look on the women’s faces, he could feel them.

Not sure yet. Just stay put for a few. That was the response he got back.

Blowing out a breath, he rolled his shoulders to release some tension. There was one person he knew that would have a plan immediately in a situation like this. He really hated to disturb him, but he had nine people and nowhere to go. They didn’t have enough supplies to stay in the bush indefinitely. Opening the contacts, he brought up his name and hit dial before he could change his mind.

The phone rang three times. “Hello?”

“Cal, it’s Blair.”

“I know or I wouldn’t have answered. That idiot prince and his sidekick, your boss, keep calling—at all hours.”

Blair smirked, despite the mess he was in.

“What’s going on? You go pick up those people?”

Blair looked around at the women watching him. “Yeah, and we’re in a bit a fix now.”

“What happened?”

“Okay, summary, Tomas’ people are involved, they were being followed. We ditched the van and have been trekking through the bush. We were supposed to meet the closest clan to here, but Devin just sent a message to abort.”

“Fuck me.” His tone was a lot deeper now. “Is everyone in good health?”

Blair nodded and looked at the ground, “Yes, all nine women, girls, and one ray of sunshine are healthy.”

“They’re all females?” He heard Calum blow out a breath. “Tomas isn’t going to quit.”

“I know. I’m open to suggestions, here.” He glanced to Kobie, who looked hopeful.

“Okay, text me your location as best you can guess and give me ten minutes. I’ll come up with a plan of action and I’ll…” he heard a feminine voice near to Cal, “we’ll head to you.”

Blair closed his eyes, relief filling him. “Fill Gage and Devin in, please. I think they were trying to figure out a plan.”

Calum laughed, “amateurs. I’ll talk to you in a few minutes.”

Blair handed the phone to Kobie. “Can you text our location to that number? I need to go,” he motioned to the tree.

“Yeah.” She took the phone. “This Cal is going to call in the troops to help?”

Blair walked backward toward the tree. He grinned at her. “No troops, he is the calvary.” He barely got out of sight when she called out to him.

“Blair?”

“Yeah?” he held his breath and hoped it wasn’t Cal messaging saying he was out of ideas. “Your battery is getting low.”

Blair grinned. “There are two more in my pack. Switch it out after you send him the coordinates.” He had to go to the bathroom, but he needed a moment to rest his forehead against the bark of the tree and hope like he never had that he could get them all out of this.